That doesn't sound too difficult!

Have Brian over for dinner.

Happy New Year everyone! Good New Year's resolution, John! Anyone else have resolutions?!

I hope everyone has a great New Year's........I plan on ringing it in in Hartford here at the Frist Night celebration..........then over to my neighbors for a after New Year's Eve get together.........take care everyone and have a great time.

Can you believe it. I am still alive. heeeee heeeeee
Good deal Richard on your job. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to ALL.......
I bought some more Karaokee CD's or something like that for the New Year to sing my life away.
Yup should be fun. Maybe I should do something and put it on my Server and you all can view it.
Hmmmmm does man have that kind of time anymore? Well that's what is wrong. We don't make time anymore.
Okay New Year resolution. Make time so I can have some time to do what I gotta do. Sounds good don't it.
Hey chat with you all later. Have a Great New Year and be safe and careful.

Dave and I drove Kevin back to Belfast yesterday afternoon. The storm was already there when we arrived around 6:15. We drove back in some rough weather. Real slow going from Belfast to Bangor. Visibility was nil. 30 north of Bangor - clear sailing but we'd lost a lot of time and so didn't make it back til almost 11:30. Should have been 3 1/2 hours both ways. ah well. Home safe and sound. Well worth it to have the four of us together for Christmas!

I was in VT for my gettogether with family on Sunday and Monday. Sang with my church's choir on Christmas Eve and spent time with my friend Joy after that. Traveled just to Derry, NH in the middle part of the day yesterday to spend time with my late wife's family then scooted home to ride out the storm which dumped a foot of the "white gold" here in the afternoon and night. Sunny with a strong NW wind today and the post-storm cleanup outside is in pretty good shape. We had lost most all of the snowcover here Friday with the heavy rain that fell, but Springfield still had snow on the ground. A hearty HI to all.

Don't tell me .....everyone's out taking advantage of those fab after Christmas sales!

Happy Holidays all, I'm just taking a break from the post wrapping paper mess to send an invite to Roland. Something went awry with his first invite so he's asked for another. Guess that means we'll be seeing him here soon!

Richard, congratulations on your new position. that's a great way to start the new year.

Merry Christmas all....

Sounds good, Richard!

Hi Gang, That is great to hear that you are doing well and am employed Richard. Hard to imagine that it is Christmas in a few days.....hope everyone has a happy holiday.

Lori, I'm glad you are safe. They Were showing mud slides and things like that, looked very nasty.

Richard, I'm so glad your work situation has worked out so well.

Hi- Happy everything to all- or at least have a happy something! Today is my first day in a new position at the same company. My engineering group is gone and our work was moved back to headquarters in Switzerland. Friday would have been my last day, but they took my advice for a new position and gave me the job. It took the professional resolve of Eliot Ness (the G-Man that got Al Capone) to pull it off, but my new job is great. I am the Business Development Manager with no people reporting to me- yahoo!!!!. I get to go to customers, find out what their most important problems are, scratch my head, and broker solutions. I'm sort of a front man for the R&D group in Switzerland. Hope all is OK out there in your real worlds, too!!!

Yes, Nancy, we have been getting a lot of rain lately, but right now I'm looking out the window and it's sunny again. I like living in a sunny place, but it is nice when it rains here cuz it seems more special. Happy holidays everyone! By the way, Richard, how's work going? Are you staying at that job? Hope it worked out for the best.

They are talking about a white Christmas here (maybe) but it will be sleet and frezing rain, other wise just cold and rainy. If the weather is like I saw on the news last night it is going to be icy in Arkansas and Tennessee the day after Christmas and my father in law and brother in law will be driving through it. Let's hope the weather man is wrong, Gee what are the chances of that happening, LOL.
Merry Christmas everyone! Have a safe and happy holiday.


Hey Lori, speaking of weather, I have seen California is getting hit real hard, are you effected by that? Hope you are safe and dry.

Hi there folks, We get out ouf school tomorrow at 1:30 for the Christmas Holiday. Back in on the 2nd of Jan. tomorrow we have an ornament marathan for the 7th graders. A busy, loud, and exciting morning is planned. Then I'll slow down and see what it's like to be out of work for a while.


It's definately White Christmas time here in Presque Isle! though we have rain and freezing rain which has already started and will continue through tomorrow.

Yes, we have had rain, I was a bit excited about using it for the first time yesterday, but it rained instead. Sounds like you have fun, Richard. I shoveled my drive already and am responsible for the sidewalk in front of my house as well. I bought mine to do my neighbor's drive as well......he has been kine enough to mow my grass in the front all season, he would do the back as well, but can't fit the mower through the gate...............so I am doing my part...Sounds like you are gearing up for the holiday season, Pat. Lori, we have been having rain here for the past week, all the snow that we had is now gone.....not looking like a white Christmas so far.

Mornin' all, We even got a new member this week onthe list. The former Pauline Smolnik. Don't know anything about her "adulthood" but I got a note from her telling me I could put her on the list. Nobody new here though that I can see.

These days I'm surrounded by school plays, and musical performances, and my how things have changed: Power Point Presentations! That one sort falls into my lap. I teach that part. Tomorrow there will be a Christmas Bazaar at school to which parents and friends have been invited to learn about Christmas Around the World. This is produced by a 7th grade reading class, through ppt on laptop computers. I think that kind of goes along with the concept of snowblowing that which could be swept! Know what I mean?

Off to bake brownies.

And, yes, Patti, Nancy's right, we do appreciate all you've done to keep this classmate thing alive!

No snowblowers for us--but we had rain all day today. It's a treat when it rains in L.A. cuz it's usually sunny.

Nancy, so glad to hear you have a new snowblower. I live on a street where the National Men's Senior Snowblower Team all live and practice daily. They are mentally prepared, respirator equipped, oxygen supported, and watch the hell out when solid water is floating in the air. They have machines that will suck it down onto the ground for a 10 count pin before being thrown off their driveways and out of their lives forever. Then, with engines idling at about 6,000 rpms, they remain and wait for the next snowflake victim. Sometimes it will be hours, but there they stand- ready. In the off season they train with twig shredders, leaf blowers, and one even vacuums his driveway. Hello!?!?!?! My technique is to use a broom, because most times a shovel would just be a little too much and I no longer seek the thrill and smell that the other men on my street think of as home.

Hi Pat, of course the list is a good thing............you should know that and we appreciate you keeping in touch with everyone and on top of things..........we may never tell you, but we do appreciate it. Christmas is the time of year most people try and get in touch. So you are doing us all a great favor. I have been shopping for the holidays, and am almost done..............which is a feat in itself. Hope everyone is in good health, with the strange weather, it is hard. We had rain most of the weekend, so all the snow that we did have is gone. I bought a new snowblower only to have it sit in the garage. Oh well.....I'm sure I will use it some this winter. Take care everyone.

Hi everyone, Heard from Brian Davis yesterday. He couldn't open my attached list but wanted Roland's address as they were buddis back in the day and he wanted to get in touch. so the list is a good thing. I'm pleased.

Guess everyone must be out shopping!

I was just on ebay and thought someone might like to know that if you go to Springfield Vermont you can find reproduced old maps and some postcards that would make good gifts to mat and frame for a bit of memorabilia. One map is from the 1860's and has a key of family names. Just thought I would mention it because some of you might be in the same boat with parents who don't need a thing and don't care about the latest electronics, etc. Its also fun to go to your last name and see what items were manufactured with companies who had that name. I just bought a cast iron old waffle iron with the Stover manuf. company name in big letters on the bottom and top.....will be fun to have at the family camp.

I miss John. Where is he? Other than that, It's a wonderful world!

Good morning everyone,

I received a nice letter through Classmates.com a couple of days ago and then again last night. They were from the former Bill Guertin, who now goes by the name Roland McCarthy. Roland has asked to join the Blogger site and I've him sent an invite this a.m. I know you'll all make him feel welcome.
I was reading something in a Holdiday cookbook last night that expressed the thought that in the midst of all the Holiday hub bub we somehow get the urge to play host/hostess. As I ask you to make Roland welcome, I guess it's true. Cookies anyone?

I didn't know they had them in Vermont! I never saw one when I lived there. Here we see them creeping along the wall between us and our neighbors.

Possums are strange! Whenever wildlife get a shot at my trash, there is an impromtu block party. A possum showed up for the last trash rave on my back steps (taking the trash 10 more feet into the garage to the secure trashcan located there was too far, too difficult, too not what my teenager wanted to do right then- and there the bag sat until midnight). My eyes just about popped when I saw the possum because it was the first one that I have ever seen. I understand that the tapered tail is the possum's super power, but it is also a large contributor to its "pretty ugly" look.

I forgot--we have possums, if that counts for anything! They're pretty ugly.

Hi all, we've got a bit of snow up here prestty cold. Low 20's. About like the rest of New England, I suppose. Wild Life in the back yard. We get moose now and then. That's pretty cool.

Wow, deer in the backyard! All we have are squirrels. And snow? It's still practically summer here--though Omer, my youngest, goes snowboarding at Mountain High, about an hour an a half from here.

Been there, done that, several times (got a lot of kids). You will enjoy it. It will be WARM, that would be enough for me! Grand Rapids hit zero on Tuesday morning. We feed the deer and right now they are eating a 40 pound bag of feed in two days. Kellan, my youngest, counted 10 deer the other day. Our feeder is only about 30 feet from the back deck......very cool! We also have wild turkeys. Happy Trails Jerry!

Great to hear from everyone..........hope the holiday season is going well for all........we just got another 7 inches..........talk ablut being dumped on........good for the ski areas here in CT. though. The last was really nice powdery snow.............real light. Take care and have a safe trip, Jerry...........I was there many many moons ago.........(72?) and alot has changed. I hear it is even more fun for the adults than the kids..........

Nice to see you here again, Jerry. Have fun in DisneyWorld. I've only been to Disney Land. My favorite "ride" is Pirates of the Carribean. Not a scary ride, but really imaginative. I don't like the scary ones anymore!

Hello to all. It's been a while. I spent a good part of Thanksgiving Day in Georgia, VT with family. A good meal and good sharing. Was in Montreal the following Saturday night at the Bell Centre to watch the Flyers/Canadiens hockey game taken by Philadelphia with just 6.3 seconds left in overtime. John LeClair from St. Albans had just injured his shoulder badly the night before Thanksgiving in the Flyers game at Pittsburgh so we missed seeing him in action. I enjoyed getting up above the border, actually the second time this year after seeing an Expos baseball game in June before our reunion. On the front page of my newspaper this morning is the notice of the passing of Michael Valuk who had been town manager in Springfield for six years into the early 1980's. Does anybody remember him? He was 52 and had developed pneumonia from a rare blood disease, dying in Boston. After leaving Springfield, he'd been town manager of Salem, NH, then became president of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce for 17 years. Next Tuesday I'll be heading down to DisneyWorld for four days with the other two youth leaders from church. I've never been, they have. Hope all is well with everyone.

I am in love (again) and it was just as good as the first time! Would it be shallow to simply say, "Thank-you", after six hours of unrestrained passion? All I can say is that every muscle in my body is a little sore today. It started with a run down a steep trail in powder that was up over my boots. I took one digger, but I didn't end up as a yard sale. Lots more runs all day on perfect mid-winter snow conditions. It was really cold, but no one was there because of that, I guess.

Time to wax your board(s) bloggers!

Yes, I agree. I think it's my favorite holiday. We had 23 people here--family and friends--but Avi's sister helped with the cooking, so it was much easier than our usual Friday night meals with Avi's family.

Happy Thanksgiving, all you non-native americans!
What a great holiday! Loads of easy to make food, with the focus on family and friends.
And don't forget to get a little hammered, it clears out the carburators!
I'll be thinking of you all, so be happy!

Gobble, gobble!

Good morning all,

I've removed Janice from the team (old address) and re-invited her under her new e-mail address. Perhaps this time she'll come on board. Let's hope.

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving and can relax with relatives and friends for a bit.......not being able to be near my family for 20+ years has made me value it even more now. Take care and if anyone is traveling, please be careful!! Congrats Richard, it is good to read good news

Wine for me, too. I'm going wine-tasting soon at a winery in downtown L.A. with my friend, Irene. They have food there, too, so maybe I'll be eating fusilli, too! Glad to hear things are looking up at work, Richard.

Yes sir, that's going to be fusilli with red wine (lots of it) on Monday night! I think I am getting a 6 month stay of execution. I will learn on Monday for sure, but it looks like my company is going to put me into a newly created business development position for a 6 month trial. Keep those higher powers smiling on me, please.

Proves you're twisted. : )

Although angle hair, bow ties, cavatapi, diatalini, egg noodles, fettuccine, fusilli, gemelli, gnocchi, lasagna, linguine, macaroni, manicotti, orzo, pastina, penne, radiatore, ravioli, raviolini, rigatoni, rotini, sea shells, spaghetti, spaghettini, tortellini, tripolini, vermicelli, wagon wheels, and ziti, all come immediately to mind-

I gotta go with fusilli on that one. Don’t care who knows either!!

Hi Lori, you can't tell who's just looking at the page, it IS open to the World Wide Web, so anyone can eavesdrop (get a life). But really, who cares? Just don't leave sensitive information (address, phone, favorite pasta shape) in the public area. I put that in my profile in the TEAM section, which is not public.

Janice can see that there hasn't been an update snce Sept 14 because that's the last post on the page. Without joining, she can't read these messages until the site is working again.

Say Pat, does Janice want to join? She doesn't need a computer of her own. Anyone here can invite people or re-send an invitation (i.e.; a PENDING member at the bottom of the TEAM section) or change the invitee's email address, if it has changed. Go there and find someone to click on!

I still don't understand what you guys see when you click on the team button. How do you know from that who's been eavesdropping?!!! I don't mind the eavesdropping, but it would be nice if a few more people would "surface," as Brian says.

Pat, if you go to http://shs1972.blogspot.com you will get the web page (which stopped in Sept.) Anyone can get that and so you see .........all that stuff you have been saying about your classmates (just kidding) has been public material!!!!!

From what i can see It's all here if you just read from the "Post and Publish" page as Lori called it. Since it's the default window I just stay right here since I'm going to be writing from here anyway. I'm still wondering about Janice though. Since she has not logged into blogger as a member how did she know the web page view stopped in Sept? You can see who has come in at least once by clicking on the my team button. It shows two groups those who have accepted the invitation and those who have not. I guess I'm still trying to figure out how one would view the web page if they hadn't accepted the invitation and become a member of the blog? Am I making any sense? I often don't.

Hi, this is Brian. Don't worry about me, I do submerge for long periods. It's not depression, I just get focused on what I'm doing to the exclusion of all else. I remember getting an email a couple years back from my friend Kitt; all it said was

"Surface, willya!?"

Sometimes when I become aware that I've been ignoring all but my family and job(s), I hear that message. And I say "Oh, yeah, whoops." You can always email me if you want, I don't ignore direct correspondence, such as the one from Richard asking me to check into why Blogger wasn't updating this site.

Darned if I know, so let's see what they write back to Richard.

I'm glad the pulse is beating here, keep up the chatter!

Do you usually read the site through the web page view? I never do. Now I'm confused.

I sent an email to Blog Support asking , "whazzzzupppp?"

I think I know what Karen's talking about. When I open the blog, it only goes to September. The only way I can read the new notes is to go to the Post and Publish page. Of course, I don't have the answer--I'll wait for Brian for that.

I will ask our beloved King. He only breaks for one meal a day and sleep on every third, though.

error 503 unable to load template file. We're working on this. Please try back later. That just came up when I hit the post and publish button. But my post is there. Weird.

Karen, I'm not sure that's right. I may be wrong but if you don't accept the invitation to blogger I don't think you get in at all. I know many times over the past couple of months I'd get an error messge from blogger while post and publishing but then it appeared anyway so I never understood what the problem was. It was my understanding though from Brian originally that this was a secure site and only invited persons accepting the invitation could enter at all. How do you access the view web page section if you haven't logged into blogger? This is really interesting.

Okay, Karen, now the recipe ball/bowl is in your court--that is, if I managed to forward it right. I've never forwarded anything before cuz I never bothered to learn how to do it. That's why all the other chain letters people have sent have stopped when they got to me.

Click on the left side of this site where it says "view web page" and you will see what I mean. That is the official posting and I think it is what people see who have not accepted the invitation to blogger. It only goes to the discussion of viruses, sometime in Sept.

If Janice is trying to get into the site now, she'll need to change her e-mail address in the team profile. She's jstearns@vermontel.net now. What do you mean when you say blogger stopped in September?

Are you guys aware that the web page for Blogger stopped in September and no further blogs were registered after that. Janice Stearns asked me what was up and I don't have the answer. All the people who have not joined the site are not able to eaves drop. Can Brian help us or are we now an official SHS "clique"????????????

Brian King and his family were over for dinner last night. We had wonderful Indian food that was completely over the top! (great conversation too).

I've just sent my recipe for Danielle's Temptation to you Lori. So the ball is in your court! (or is that bowl)

It's a deal, Patti. You're welcome any time! Especially if you're planning to cook!

I'm adding desert! Will send it out tomorrow to Lori, who will invite us to her house where I will prepare it.

I just started a recipe chain e-mail. My contribution is on its way to Patty. I hope many additions will be made and that the accumulated file will be distributed to all some time in the future. Brian King is a great cook, don't miss a chance to see what he might add!

All this talk about pot roast is making me want to eat some. I make something I learned from Avi's mother that she calls "roast." I don't know if that's the same thing. How do you make pot roast? Patti, that cake sounds good, but I'm afraid I'll be too lazy to bother making it. Now if you were here to make it for me, that would be a different story. I'd be glad to eat it!

Okay sounds good but can we meet somewhere in the middle, prepare and eat this meal? I love pot roast

Maybe I should start a recipe-chain-email where everyone could add something as it travels- contemplate what is there and add whatever. I know Robin has a good Yankee Pot Roast.

Hi folks - just got in from my new work out class. I'm back into exercising regularly again and it feels pretty good. I needed to do something indoors since our temps up here have been pretty nasty and there is ice where one would normally be walking. Besides that it's dark out there by the time I get home from work. so many excuses. so little time.

Don't feel badly Lori , my cookin is nothing to write home about. Though I crock pot a mean pot roast. I've long since stopped worrying about it though. Especially now that's its just Dave and I living at home we have pretty standard fare. Same ole same ole.

When we were living back in Rutland we belonged to a terrific super club. International menus and the whole nine yards. Gave us a reason to use the "good dishes". I wonder if they are still together? I'm such a picky eater though. We always knew the menu ahead so I'd bring something I'd like to eat if the main dish was icky. I do love to bake though. If anyone is interested in a heavenly flourless chocolate cake recipe I have a beaut!! It's a real choco-holic thriller.

I'm more interested in Karen's slimfast recipe right now! My food's not THAT bad. It's just that I compare myself to the people around me who are all really good cooks--Avi's mother, his sister, his brother's wife, my Israeli friend here, etc. So I've developed an inferiority complex regarding cooking. But the main problem is I see it as a chore instead of an art. Wish I could see it as an art. But I do have a lot of food in my poems!

Karen, Lori, and the silent 237 (were we a class of 240?); Dinner was great! The breaded fish in wheat tortillas was not too much and a selection of hot salsas brought it to life (or possibly afterlife, those *x^'+@#s were on fire!). I am saving Karen's recipe for spicy shrimp in tacos for a "why don't I cook moment". That recipe is money in the bank. I am a little concerned about Lori not having any lip smacking recipes (in a way, no money in the bank).

There was an article about supper clubs in the Sunday New York Times. Unfortunately, my supper club was not included. Two supper clubs from Texas were mentioned, one gay and the other with cleavage. No wonder we didn't make the article, we don't have either. Anyone up for trading recipes, I mean sending Lori some recipes?

By the way, ah... Emeril...Bobby Flay.......the chef formerly known as "Dick", how did the dinner go and what did you end up serving? Rich could have loaned you his apron that some friends gave him for his birthday......It says "now you are cookin' with DICK!! Well, anyway, hope you had fun. Lori, I can come up with the good ideas.........for OTHER PEOPLE, but I haven't exactly been whipping up a frenzy lately. Got any good ideas for things to do with SLIMFAST? HAHA!

Hi, Richard. I didn't want you to think I was ignoring your question about the food. We were out of town for a week, so I'm just getting caught up on all the news. It looks like Karen helped you out. You've got good ideas, Karen! I should know more about fish tacos (living out here), but I don't and I'm not much of a cook. Nothing you'd lick your lips over.

Hey, John! Back from the darkside of the moon? I love that band and wish I had seen them.

Hey Nancy thanks for the info.
Howling for Stairway to Heaven is good but I wonder if there is "Anybody Out There". Or maybe if he made alot of "Money" he could create the rainbow effect.

I would love to come- probably can't though. Tell Mike that I said, Good luck! If he hears someone howling for "Stairway to Heaven" from under one of the tables in the back, that would be me and it means that I made it.

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let everyone know that Mike Johnson started a new band last year. He will be playing at the Rockingham Motor Lodge Dec. 6th. This will be his big debut. It would be great if some of us could be there for him. Hope to hear from you soon.
Nancy Dunham

Once was the day when wine bottles did not have caps that screwed off, but I guess Boone's Farm led the wave to change that. I also remember a time when I didn't have 5 remote controls, an answering machine, cable, and Michael Jackson was still black. What did happen? I can report that Karen's suggestion for the Southernliving.com link is absolutely worth checking out. It delivers the same thrill as the first time you hear a new musical artist that you really like.

Hey, it just occurred to me.........Once was the day when a bottle of Boone's Farm and some bread dough from the A&W was heaven! What the hell happenned????

Richard, I sent the recipe to your e-mail address. You may not want to use it because it doesn't have all those goodies in it that you mentioned. But maybe the side dishes could be more "authentic"..........like Black Bean Salsa with Citrus Dressing, or Layered Southwestern Salad with Black Beans. Love that Southern Living! Want any other recipes? Good Luck!

Karen, The idea of shrimp tacos with a spicy cream sauce sounds really good (maybe spectacular)- I'd love the recipe! After 16 years of having dinner with this group there are few (like no) surprises. Ordering take-out just might do it though. You make me laugh and realize that I am just an idea-hamster wanna-be.

Richard, it is snowing here and I am stalling on going out so I just looked up a couple of recipes for you. One is Tuna soft Tacos with horseradish sauce and the other is Shrimp Tacos with spicy cream sauce. Both sound interesting.......one is in Cooking Light and the other Southern living cookbooks. Have not tried either but if you want to know what goes into them, let me know. Isn't there a good Mexican restaurant in town? Have it sent in and enjoy the evening!

That's one vote for Lobster Tacos with Tequilla salsa. OK!!

Can't help you there Richard.........I hate fish! Except for shellfish. So I would say skip the fish and go with the Tequilla!

I have a question for non-Burlingtonians (like Texas, So. Cal, etc.). My wife and I get together with 5 other couples for an international dinner about once every 6 weeks (a different country each time for the last 16 years). If you do the math, this means that we have covered the cuisine of more than 100 countries. We cheat and repeat countries that we all like, so in fact, we have not done the food of Lichtenstein or other obvious choices that would certainly show up in the top 100. The challenge with repeating is that new dishes can be a little harder to find and figure out.

Mexico is next (again) and we are making Fish Tacos. Fish Tacos are not available in Burlington and are not something we have had before. It seems like one of the keys to a great Fish Taco is getting the right batter and I am pretty sure the tempura batter we use will be good. The other key seems to be the add-ons that are there to throw on top. I have found the following as possible choices: radishes, chopped cucumbers, shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, chiles, salsa verde (tomatillos), regular salsa, avacado salsa, a light cream sauce, jalapenos, habanero sauce, black olives, and sour cream. Of course we will supply Tequila-limes-and salt to help us to recover from an outright failure, if that should happen.

Here's the question. Which ones do you think are mission critical to a great Fish Taco? Experience counts on this one and you still have time to do taste-testing at one of your local (or not too far away) establishments.

Thanks in advance!

Yeah, that's what I'm doing now--eating the left over Halloween candy! I always make sure to get the kind I like!

Happy halloween evryone! It's a slow night here in P.I. Not sure why. by now we'd should have seen nearly 100 kids but not even close. It's cold out ---30 ish but that's pretty typical. Oh well, I'll have to get Dave to take the extra candies to work and give them out there. If it's here I'll eat it.

That's okay, Patti. Take your time. At least we all have some contact on the blog!

Have a great time Burlington................Happy Halloween to you all. I still have to carve my pumpkins!!! But I DO want to get rid of all this candy..............I live on a busy street, so I guess it won't be long before it is all gone. Nancy

Burlington area, wow that should be quite a few of you! What fun, you'll have to fill the rest of us in on the details.

Lori I owe you a long letter. I'll get at it I promise. Lot's of crappy stuff ging onhere at home. I haven't sat down to spend enough time to really write back to you. but I talk to you in my mind all the time! Time for med nurse please!

Nice to see some new voices. Jane, how did you end up in Texas anyway? I'd still like to have a "Burlington area" reunion next time I'm in the area--no plans at the moment.

Super!

Richard,
I talked to Susan Ainsworth today. She says that Larry Kruse is suggesting a "Burlington area" class of '72 get together at his new house out in Underhill sometime in the near future...more details as they emerge. (A big "hey" to all of you living "away"!)

Richard, I found the picture on line. Hard to believe, I didn't even know there had been a big flood there, thanks for the info.

There was a picture of downtown Springfield taken looking across the raging Black River during the flood of 1927 in yesterday's New York Times. Maybe some of you saw it in other papers, it is circulating because of recent scientific discoveries about stormy weather.

I agree with Pat. I'm soooo far away in the opposite direction. But I'll always be a Vermonter no matter where life takes me!!!

It' great that you live where you can still be with "old" friends. I miss that way up here. I' ll always be from away.

I just had lunch with Robin Way. We had a great time!

I was seated at a table for 4! It was at least in a back corner and once the people at the surrounding tables stopped staring, I had a lovely meal. Of course I read my book between visits from the waitress. Hiding behind the pages of a paperback novel in the down time between salad and fetucini alfredo. Next time I'll look for the local guy/gal!

Thanks Richard!!! Should we take his advice, Patti?

You all sound like you are from "where the women are strong, the men are handsome, and all of the children are above average" (Lake Wobegone). Not that there is anything wrong with it. I think the dinner alone thing is hard regardless of who you are, and sometimes even worse depending on where you are. If you are going to be eating alone in an unfamiliar place, I learned (by chance) a great technique to end up in a good place. Find a local person that looks really interesting to you (for whatever reason) and ask them for a recommendation. They will probably send you to a place filled with people just like themselves. I tried this in Truckee, CA and ended up in a place with about 40 beautiful, young women and only one other man. The ambience was spectacular, the food was very good, and my behavior was more than acceptable for a man that definitely knows better. Shoot me for being honest, but I have learned something out there on the road.

Yes, Patti, I know what you mean about being able to do things at your own pace! It is nice sometimes. I don't like the eating alone part so much, but doing things TOTALLY my way? What's wrong with that?! Avi would go crazy at the pace I set for myself when I'm alone in Israel. I don't leave myself much time to rest cuz I want to see friends and family as much as possible when I'm there. Must have been exhausting for you driving for a few hours in the rain, though.

Good to "see" you here again, Jerry!

Hi everyone, nice to see so many recent "voices". I've been missing a couple of notes and just adjusted to show last 25 posts, that caught me up on at least one.

Got in last evening from a business trip to Augusta. Left TH from school, drove 4 hours south stopping for a 1/2 visit with Kevin, my 21 year old, in Old Town and finishing up in Augusta by 7ish. Beautiful colors and vistas. Fri was a day of technology workshops for educators. They were o.k. I was tired out by the end of the day and decided to take my migraine to the Hampton Inn in Bangor 1 1/2 hrs. north and spend the night. Had a nice supper at the Olive Garden. Single woman dining alone, a little weird for me, but o.k. Got a good nights sleep and watched The Moulin Rouge over breakfast. Did my bit for the local economy, and headed north. Home around 5. It was the first time I'd "traveled" completely alone in a number of years. I actually enjoyed the ability to come and go at my own pace. Very relaxing. No worries about a spouse bored, reading the newspaper in the annex. Tough rainy trip though. Amazing how traffic didn't seem to slow down in spite of diminished visibility and slippery roads on the highway. I set the ole cruise control and wandered homeward. Can't compare to a kayak trip up the coast but an adventure for me none the less. :-)

Hello, October. A note of interest on another high school's Class of '72 30th reunion happening tonight. The Nashua High School class takes over a ballroom at a hotel in town with about 200 coming. One of them is named Karen Ellis of New Smyrna Beach, FL. This adventurous type started in May in her 17-foot bright yellow Dagger Magellan kayak paddling up the coast. She made it to NYC where she came the rest of the way by car. After the reunion she will be returning to her kayak to finish the trip which will bring her to the Merrimack River at Newburyport, MA to come up past Lowell and Lawrence to Nashua. She retired at 40 after spending time in banking, real estate and appraising. Her grown daughter from her brief marriage in her 20's recently became a doctor in CA, earning a full scholarship to attend college. Wow! I lost my job of nearly 14 years late in the afternoon of September 10, right before 9/11. Got a severance package including outplacement services, so I'm exploring what the future has in store. Took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and I'm a people person to work in a team setting with those having high values. I'll keep you informed. Maybe I'll go work with the Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter! Bye. I'll see if this posts OK now.

I'm sure my mother would be proud of her little Dickie writing poems about geese. Work is a little wild. I am being considered for a new position in the company. The unusual thing is that it is a position that has not previously been considered as something the company ever thought that they needed. They may decide that they were right to begin with and that the new position is not something that is needed. If I can pull it off, it would be a total kick because it is doing business development using a recent invention of mine as fuel to start the fire. The invention is pretty good fuel. It breaks the lock that 175 year old technology has had on coaxial connectors.

On the topic of Route 1, I had a completely charming trip along the coast in 1981. I travelled with a friend of a friend and his 5 year old son, starting in San Francisco and finally being let off in Morro Bay. The view at Big Sur is enchanting, the drinks at Napente are a great reason to enjoy the view a little longer, and San Simeon took me beyond my comfort zone. I guess its dimensions that are beyond life as I am used to it sort of freaked me out. I have to say that you got the mental video tape rolling on that one. Waah!!!!

Hi everyone. I tried writing something yesterday, but something got screwed up and I couldn't post it. Hope it works this time. I've been busy the last few days with guests. My brother-in-law was visiting from Israel with a friend of his. First they were on a work trip, visiting ranches in different places, like Wisconsin and Arizona. They both work with the cows on their kibbutz, so they came to get ideas on how things are done in the U.S.--milking techniques,etc. They stayed on another 5 days after the work part of the trip so they could come visit us. They convinced me to take a trip up north with them to the Monterey/Carmel area and then to drive back on Route 1 along the Pacific Ocean. It's really beautiful. Have any of you been there? Avi had work to do, so he couldn't come with us--but it wasn't bad traveling with 2 men! We had fun. I took them to the airport on Monday and then I was at the airport again on Tuesday with my daughter. She left for a 2-week visit to Israel to see friends and family. Hope everything will be okay there.

Richard, how's work been going? What you wrote about the geese is practically a poem.

Patti and Karen, I looked up Gus/Bob Morin in the yearbook, and you're right--he is cute! How could I forget someone like that? Patti, did you find your word? I can't think what it could be. Sorry. Wish I could taste some of those fresh Maine potatoes!

Classes went back to the high school this a.m. the harvest is officially over. It closer to being over than I realized last week.

Put on your thinking caps. I am looking for a word: starts with the letter "e". meaning: associated with a name.

Pretty quiet out there.

Hi Richard, It's a chilly a.m. here. 22 degrees. I'm waiting for the weekly paper to be delivered - sometime around 6. It's been a week since I've gotten any local news so I'm pretty anxious!

The harvest goes on. there are two more weeks til classes at the high school go back. We've had an unfortunate rain fall these past couple of weeks and that is interferring. The harvesters sink right into the fields when it's wet so they (the farmers) are frustrated. But I think it wll be a good year all the same. I've seen worse, that is for sure. Really though, until you've actually eaten potatoes that are freshly picked you have know idea that there is a difference. There are hundred of varieties which I never knew til I moved here. there are wonderful little vegetable stands all over the roads with bags of fruits and vegetables for sale and all on the honor system! You just leave your money in the box and take your spuds with you. I love it! It'sa whole 'nother world up here. Can you picture that on the Williston Road?
The leaves are beautiful and the geese are flying here too. so fabulous to hear them honking and then watch them go across the horizon in the sun set. We have great views from our home and every evening it's a delight. Lightening storms across the valley below us are a sight to behold.

Hi Patty Pat Trish Patty Lou, I mean Mrs. Mahoney. I was a happy little Dick and I am still happy as Richard. To me, that is what matters. Has the Presque Isle potato harvest been completed yet? My wife and I went for a bike ride yesterday with my friend that I mentioned was a part of the P. I. harvest when he was 14 and 15 years old. There is a bike ferry that takes riders across the Winooski River for $1. The sky was a perfect blue with many geese flying south. The late afternoon sun on their bellies made them look like strings of Christmas lights. It is so completely amazing to think how far they will travel. They start out so fat that they can hardly get their tails up out of the water and finally arrive down south- fit and trim, styling at the beach I guess.

Lori - Gus/Bob was in the lingo of my students, a hotty. Look him up in your yearbook and you'll probably agree. He was pretty quiet and a real nice guy as I recall.

O.K. how many of us have changed our names? Either significantly like Gus to Bob or just like Dickey to Richard. Sorry Richard, I couldn't resist. I have over years endured a crisis of identity. I was still Patty but with an i in college, turned into Pat then Trish and back to Pat with subsequent moves around NE. When my Mom and my Grammy died there was no one left to call me Patty Lou. Now I pretty much answer to anyone who appears to be looking at me when they talk. During the day of course I am Mrs. Mahoney. Except that the Guidance ounselor is named Mrs. Mahone and so we are constantly mixed up. I live a very full life.

Gus and I were in homeroom together every year. I thought he was very cute but I think he just thought I was weird. He liked to get me flustered. I remember he told me that his real name is Robert Trigvie Morin. I can't remember whether I promised secrecy or threatened to tell the whole school. I never seemed to play my cards right.......... Oh well!

Hey Robin-Bob this is Richard-Bob. Gus-Bob is in Florida?

Lori, like some of the rest of us, Gus changed his name to his real name- Bob and/or Robert. He was a little quiet, but otherwise very visible. He played sports, took classes, and he had an old blue Ford Falcon (3-speed standard shift on the steering column) that was fun to drive (and he used to let me). We took countless trips to go swimming in that car. Once we saw Walter Cronkite's daughter at one of our favorite spots (she went to the Woodstock Country Day School) and we were pretty sure that this was cool, but had so little to base that opinion upon.

..I believe that Gus-Bob Morin is in Fla....

Who's Gus? My memory must be bad...

Speaking of Gus, where is he anyway?

Small world #432..my daughter Erin is wearing a Spfld Cosmos sweatshirt while walking across the campus at Syracuse last week...and is stopped by someone who turns out to be Gary Eastman's ('70) daughter . I note that the football team's record this year is "oh-fer". The more things change.....

Well I have to relate one of his stories, before the next mystery in my life arrives. Many of Richard's stories have names that make you wonder, like- maybe that was Gus Morin's great aunt or . . .

But the one that got to me was about the Twin Pusher. In the 1920's and 30's, some kids made airplanes with sleek bamboo frames, oil soaked paper, and rubberband powered- handcarved spruce propellers. The craftsmanship of Richard's Twin Pusher sounded like it was extensive, but he admitted that it never flew very well.

This is the second Twin Pusher that I have heard about. The first one that I heard about was built to fly in a state-wide rubberband powered airplane competition at Boston Garden during the 1920's. The boy who built it had advanced from a previous competition at a county fair where his plane had caught a thermal and never came back. This set a record for time aloft. Even a policeman riding on his motorcycle was unable to catch it. At the Boston Garden, The boy's newly constructed Twin Pusher flew straight up into one of the speakers above the Celtics' basketball court. Technically, he once again set a record for time aloft, but the judges did not agree.

Life had different dimensions then.

Oh, that Richard Whitcomb! Yes, I have met him because they live in P'ville where the Stover's live.

Yes, Doris is Tom's Mom, they used to live in Perkinsville at the end of Quarry Road. My Mom lives at the beginning in Baltimore.........have been there over 35 years...........time sure does fly. I remember Cherry, Halley's sister (I think). She was in my violin class. We used to meet at Park Street School on Saturday's. Our teacher came over from Claremont, wow that was a LONG time ago. Does anyone know Tom's whereabouts? There are quite a few well-known names in Springfield..........would be interesting to look into..............I wonder who founded Springfield? Any ideas, anyone? I'm a late comer to Springfield, and lived out of town............

Yes, it does seem pretty amazing that there are that many Richard Whitcombs! Maybe you're all related and you don't know it.

That was Deke Whitcomb that was married to the music teacher. Richard Whitcomb lived over the hill near Spencer Hollow and just below Fergie's Pits. His daughter is Ann Germaine who took over the farm with her husband for the last 30+ years. Richard Whitcomb's first wife died and he re-married. He is now married to Doris (?) Stapleton. Is that Tom Stapleton's mother (yes it must be)?

But hey, Richard Whitcomb Stover, just how many Richard Whitcomb's are there????

Hey Richard, My husband's name is Richard Whitcomb Stover but we didn't get any memoirs! How do you rate????? HA HA! He has his mother's maiden name. Is this the Richard Whitcomb whose wife was the music teacher in Spfld. forever? Halley's dad? Just wondering.......

I am a true believer that things happen for a reason,,,,,,we are the ones that choose the outcome of some of the circumstances. I hope things work out for you Richard. I think Mr. Whitcomb wanted you to have his memoirs for a reason, he must have felt that you would appreciate them for what they are.

I really don't know why he sent it to me. It is a great gift. My only interaction ever with Richard Whitcomb was being introduced to him on a cub scout visit to his farm. It was mentioned that my middle name was Whitcomb. (I'll diagram this for you) That makes me Richard Whitcomb Loveless. It seems a little obscure that this would be why I get his memoirs 38 years later. I don't feel a deep need to understand it, I will write a note to thank him, and I may even post "unusual facts" that I find here, as well.

Watch out for ghosts in the corners everbody out there!!

How did Mr. Whitcomb's memoirs happen to come to you? That's a great gift, the history of our hometown. It really is quite a place. The times of struggle that have passed through there and still the town survives. In no small part I'm sure due to The Tavern, Polidors and places like that. I remember the nightthe Adna Brown Hotel burned down. We were living on Chester Rd at the time I think. My mom and Dad and I sat in the coffee shop across the way and watched. What a weird event for a family outing.

Thanks, you are all perceptive. There may be a natural progression. I received an inquiry today from a company that has some tough engineering problems that thay want a consultant to help with. They requested my resume. I sent it, so now I will now see if my mother taught me anything about writing (enough to get the call).

On another topic, I just received the memoirs of Richard Whitcomb, signed and dated. He was a longtime farmer in Springfield who has written about everything from Lindberg's visit to Springfield, to the utility of safety pins. It seems that safety pins were the backbone of the town until zippers and velcro came along. And I thought it was The Tavern that held Springfield together. I can't believe he sent it to me because I only met him once in 1964. Did anyone else receive this book?

Richard, My prayer for you is peace, and clarity of mind. I know great things are in store for you, but it's not our time, so the time spent waiting is very nerve wracking and draining. Miracles happen everyday, I pray for peace for you to wait for it, and the clarity of mind to see it when it comes.

Richard, I'm sorry about your job situation. I am in the process of looking for a new job down here. I have the luxury of waiting until I can find one that I want, though. have you ever thought of being a independant consultant? It sounds like you need to be your own boss........I'm not sure what you do, but it seems like there might be a need for someone like you to go in and solve their design problems.......

Thanks, I love this website!

Richard, it doesn't sound like they deserve a miracle!

Hi Lori, First you need to know that I hate tech talk and especially acronyms. People that don't know the code always end up feeling uncomfortable and why should they? So, I had mentioned to you that the Chief Technology Officer from Switzerland was coming to review my design work. I picked him up at 8:00 AM and by 10:00 I thought I was dying- no give and take, tempo, joy. By 12:00 he realized that one of my inventions could double our sales revenue in North America. At 2:00 he came to the realization that my new design work was under a company process that the Swiss have designated as the B-2 process. Roughly translated, it means "the process that can double sales revenue really fast". He went on to say that the process I had been hired to do was the B-4 process which roughly translated means, "the process that you wish would double sales revenue, but it never does!" And one does not just change like this, it violates a proper sense of order.

All the protocol frustrates me. In my company's current position it truly is like re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I was spiritually drained for two days.

Before leaving, he gave me a short list of miracles to attempt to complete before December when they will let me go. There was no indication if miracles would save my #@!? I think they have run out of process designators to describe me. I think that no process designator means no job. I am going to try smiling again tomorrow and start all over again.

Richard, what's B-2 and B-4? (in simple English!)

Same for me, maybe Blogger is under some construction.

Can anyone explain why the official web page postings only go to Sept.15th? Is it just my computer? Me?

Hi Eileen, Great to see you here. Come back often and soon. It was a shame you couldn't make it to the reunion, hope everythings o.k. now. When I look at our first communion photos who would have thought you'd have become a judge and not a nun? We were so so sweet back then.
Colin, our youngest (19) is moving away from home next weekend. He's still going to school and working in a local restaurant but he'll be renting a house with a couple of other hoodlums about 15 minutes away. So basically he won't be sleeping here any more. I'm trying to pretend that he's moving into the dorm and will be home on weekends and holidays. Boo Hoo. I'll be getting out the Chambourd to drown my sorrows Karen.
High School is out for a month on Harvest Break starting next Monday. Life in "The County" is different from any place else. There is really good money to be made working on a potato harvester though.

A little dull?!?! The flaming microwave takes the cake!

Hi guys, I am still here, just have been a bit busy with moving and kids. My 19 year old son left today to go back to the University of Cincinnati......and I cried, of course. We still have lots of boxes everywhere. My goal is to declutter and have a major unloading of "stuff". Didn't have time to do it when we left Lexington. Richard, so sorry to hear about the employment woes, hope things will look up soon. Can't believe I gave anyone a good idea.......I could use a few for myself. We just passed our 25th wedding anniversary this summer and were too busy to do anything to celebrate. My 16 year old just passed his license and wants a car, my 13 year old cut two fingers with an exacto knife last week and had stitches. My 21 year old daughter called from college last week and had to hang up on her father because she set her microwave on fire with bagel bites and the fire department responded to the alarm!! Other than that.........life is really dull here. Happy fall! Eileen, way to go......I am so impressed by the accomplishments of so many of you. I haven't decided what I want to be yet.....................

Jerry Bolio,
Dave Merrill here yes the Roth concert was a tad loud and Roth and his crew were asses. I don't think Roth will play the Burlington area again. Little louder than the Barber Shop Quartet I sing in. I preferred the Sammy Hagar portion.

Jerry Bolio,
Dave Merrill here yes the Roth concert was a tad loud and Roth and his crew were asses. I don't think Roth will play the Burlington area again. Little louder than the Barber Shop Quartet I sing in. I preferred the Sammy Hagar portion.

I would be wound too if I picked three juries, (I think). Did you pick all white juries? It is really great that you connected. I used to get some really great ideas here until Karen stopped being able to connect. That "go to a bed & breakfast" idea probably saved my marriage. OK, just kidding. But it was fun- my marriage is one of the things that seems like it is going OK.

I sat with a Swiss executive all day today, who drew the conclusion that I have been working in the B-4 process, but that I have been actually contributing in a B-2 process kind of way. So, was that before and now this is B-2? I love technology, not!

As a result of the re-invitation I joined. Now if someone will talk to me. I just finished picking three juries and I am wound so I decided to play on the computer. I;ll check in again.

Eileen Hongisto

I just sent a re-invite to everyone on the list who hasn't come on board yet, Keep your fingers crossed, maybe we'll get some new neighbors!

Good morning folks, I know it's early for some of us but let's try to put our heads together and help out with an editing issue. Karen (Millay) Stover has a new e-mail address and I'm trying to edit her profile per the instructions in the Blogger help menu which say : in the team section click on the name and then click on the edit/profile button. I can't find the edit profile button. It's probably right in front of me but I don't see it. We all have administrative access so if anyone figures it out please go for it! the new address is stoverMI@aol.com. Thanks for the help and have a nice day :-)

How come I don't see my note from Sept. 15 when I open the blog, but I do see it now as I'm writing this new note? Did it get posted or not? Technology, technology...can't they make it simpler---e-mail for dummies or something like that.

Thanks for the explanations, Patti and John! Still sounds scary to me--I don't like losing control! It's like these viruses have a life of their own.

It's still hot here, Patti, but not humid like in Maine. I've been swimming in our pool for exercise. When it gets cooler, I'll go back to my walking, but as long as it's hot, I prefer swimming. Sounds like you have a nice garden. The only edible thing we have in our garden is mint leaves that we put in tea or salad. Oh, and our neighbor's fig tree leans into our yard.

Lori, to help clairfy what the KLEZ virus does. There are a variety of KLEZ and what it does is sends out mail to all your people in your address book plus it has a few hundred addresses that it attaches along with it. If you get the virus it will attach your address to the list along with the 200 so that when other people get the virus your name will be among the 200 in the list and it just keeps going. It is hard to find out who they are comming from because one of the ways that it works is that it picks somebody randomly in your address book and makes it look like the virus is comming from that person in reality it is comming from you... So it is very hard to trace on who has the virus. But who ever you have in your address book like Pat for example then she would probably see the klez virus every time you boot up your machine. But it won't look like it's comming from you it will look like its comming from somebody else. It does not send your information inside of email it only uses the addresses and has it's own subject and email information. Hope this helps...Okay gotta run.....

Hi Lori, so far your's are clean. the first one I got was from Brad coyle. In fact I received 6 messges fromhimwith the klez virus attached. I wrote to him and he told me had not "written to me" and that's exactly how this virus works. If I understand what I have ben reading, once you have the virus in your system, your computer writes to people in your address book. My Norton anti virus has quaranteened each of the messages that we have received with the virus so I assume that it's not being spread by my computer. I hope not anyway. We received it from other people we know and people we have never heard of. If the attachement says anythng about a jungle background don't open it. That's only one of the many ways it is coming through.

so anyway, how you doing out there? My pumpkins are turning orange and it's 40 degrees out. (6:30 a.m.) Last week Monday and Tuesday were so hot with the humidilty that we had kids throwing up in the bathrooms and having trouble breathing. It was 89.9 degrees in the 7th grade math room which is just across the hall from my computer lab. Now we're cold. that's life in county!

Patti, I was just wondering if that Klez virus was attached to any of my e-mails? Once our computer had some kind of virus that attached random things to our letters to people, and some of those things were personal. It was embarrassing. So I'm a little paranoid now. I hope nothing weird is attaching itself to my e-mails.

Is any else getting a lot of messages with the Klez virus attached. I seem to get them daily. Luckily my Norton anti-virus takes care of it but it's a pain. I've gotten it from a lot of people on the class e-mail list so I guess it must have gone through someone from the class of 72's address book.

I saw Brian yesterday. He was only half awake. He has been working all-nighters this week and really long hours for the as long as I can remember. He said that he hasn't been able to check out Blogger for a couple of months, but probably would sometime soon.

After a brief ceremony around the school flag pole, I spent my day working around trying to teach while kids kept leaving my lab for "school picture day". Then fiddling around with iBooks that for one reason or another aren't functioning properly. Over 200 people including all 7th and 8th grade students were assigned laptops this week. Every 7th grader in the state of Maine now has one to work with while at school. 3 schools including ours have them for all 8th graders as well. I'm a pc kinda girl so I'm still learning the ins and out of the Mac. I know Brian is a Mac guy. Where do you suppose he's hiding out these days?

Also, has anyone heard anything about Ron's Y's health post reunion?

So, December 21st I will yield to the Swiss authorities, hand over all innovation produced by my group, walk out the door screaming "Kill your cell phone," and party like a rock star. There are predictions that Telecom will remain in the depths for 2 more years and I thought I could change all that. Is it the water I drink?

I've been asked to report with my design group to the President's office at 1:30 (20 minutes from now). How do you prepare for a day like this? I sat on the deck at 5:30 this morning and just sat. I cried in the car on the way to work about the World Trade Center. I laughed with my design team as we considered the mechanical process that we will now go through; realizing that it all has everything to do with us and nothing to do with us.

Hi Everyone....just came up for air, busy times here with the fiscal year ending.......yes, my sister told me about the noise violation......we went to see Aerosmith at the Meadows here last week and she got her wish of seeing Kid Rock. I told her he needed to get a larger vocabulary..........still don't like him, but there is someone for everyone........we were in the lawn area and there was a stage set up for Aerosmith to come out and sing for us.......it was neat......I sure was tired, though. Not used to the late nights, I guess. On a more serious note, please take a moment of silence for the 9/11 rememberance.....I got choked up this morning seeing my neighbors flag at half staff at 6 am in the morning..........it had a floodlight on it and looked so somber.......................more later........back to the grind........Nancy C

Richard...good luck...I was laid off from my last job as a personnel supervisor for Manpower Inc at the IBM plant a year ago last week...had a phone interview a few weeks prior for an hr position at your place....

Robin I'll give you a call soon. There is probably going to be another work shake-out happening for the next week that will surely prove to be sad, difficult, and all too typical. I don't know the details yet and especially where it will all leave me.

Jerry...I live about a mile or so down the road from the fairgrounds and heard quite a bit of the ahh...concert. Of course I play in a band which sounds more like a combination of Sheryl Crow and Bob Marley so the hard rock stuff kind of grates on what's left of my hearing. (I sound like one of the seniors my agency works with.."those damn kids and that rock and roll noise". Richard, give me a jingle some time, I'ld love to catch up with ya. My daughter is well into the terrible twos...though having recently gone through the teenage daughter out with the car and not back by curfew thing, kind of puts that stuff into perspective...oh, the name of our band is Yankee Pot Roast...no double entendres there...no officer not at all...take care 72'ers.

Mike you got one of those good jobs. Travel Travel Travel...... I'm lucky if I get out of Chester now. But I like the quietness here after spending 10 plus years in Spfld. MA and Boston...Hey Jerry was the volume a tad bit high or the was David a tad bit high. I had to ask that question since I believe the answer was both.
Well just thought I would drop a line and say hi to all. How lucky to be in California Lori..... Always seem to get the sunny days out there.
Gotta get back to work...... See ya...

Good to see you on the blog again, Jerry! And hello to all you golfers. Anyone else out there? I'm looking out the window at another sunny California day...

Hi everyone. Time to drop in again. If we're going to the Springfield Plaza, are we going to hit the Ames going-out-of-business sale? I found some 6 volt batteries at the Nashua store for my big flashlight at a decent price with the 25% off on them. Mike, is that Paige who's down in Atlanta? I know I was around you for a bit on Alumni Day, but I forgot where you might have said your family members are. Did any of you Greater Burlington people go to the Champlain Valley Fair? I heard that David Lee Roth had the volume cranked just a tad bit high, and the town of Essex Jct. handed the Fair a $5,000 fine. Ouch! Well, got to go vote tomorrow for Governor, U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative in the primary tomorrow. And the Patriots open up tonight at the new Gillette Stadium in Foxboro against the mean Steelers. See ya next time.

I would love to caddy and can handle two bags. My rates are reasonable.

Karen - I had some chambourd and champagne while camping this weekend. Very yummy. It's awfully good in coffee too, with a little whipped cream on top! How was your trip to southern Maine?

Hey Mike. I didn't know you played golf. Maybe we can play a game at Rockingham......

Is there anybody out there? I must be listening to the Floyd.

There are many, many trees at the Plaza. Have you seen it lately? The only ones I saw hanging out at the Plaza were Woodsy Owl and Smokey the Reefer (whoops, I mean Bear). . . . but "he" may be right about this place here!?!

So how is your daughter? I eat lunch every day and I will still buy you a sandwich to find out. If your "zone" we can balance, weight-watchers- we'll count points, AA- we'll just have water, AAA- we'll call a tow truck, GAY- I'll give you 30 minutes to cut that out. Oh, behave!!!

hmmmm he wonders...is this the cyberspace version of hanging out at the Plaza?

Hi Richard, Just got in from camping in NH. We're about 4 hours from Quebec City. You'll want to bone up on your french, they are primarily french speaking and many folks won't even try to help you if you aren't bi-lingual. the Quebecquois (I'm spelling that wrong) attitude of sepatation makes travel in the area a challenge. However, it's beautiful and we do travel there now and again. Not as far up to see the whales though. We've talked about it and it's not really that far. Wanna plan a trip? We'd love a reason to finally go up!

Hey Pat, I was looking at Presque Isle on a map and it does not seem that far from Quebec City. It also looked like a "you can't get there from here." How far is it to get there? We talk about going there sometimes. Do you ever go paddle around with the whales in the St Lawrence?

You are good! That was surprisingly quick but not unexpected.

oooh, a reference to a Steven King novel. The Shawshank Redemption. Great flick

Hey Jerry, It is still bad at work with no relief in sight. I cope by fantasizing that I will finally be able to escape through a secret tunnel in the men's room that I have been digging behind the Marilyn Monroe poster. I hope you survived the church treasurer's report review!! It's great weather for a hike- in case you didn't notice and need a stress reliever.

Hi, Jerry. Yes, we miss you when we don't see you here on the blog. I know every time you write something, I'll learn something new either from what you say or from the answers others give to your questions. Can I ask what happened to your wife? I hope I'm not prying into something you'd rather not talk about.

River of Long Tides - that's what Kouchibouguac means. "Or something like that", says Dave. The Native American tribe is the Micmac tribe. We have many local Micmac indians here in P.I. Several of my students are living in the Micmac community across from my school.

Happy to see you here again.

I am happy when ......... classmates from the Class of '72 check up on me. I do still have a pulse. The heat wave got to me, and I'm not feeling any good local connections. Say, Mike, where on Cape Cod is that Cuddles and Bubbles place? Maybe if I had someone to share it with, I'd go there, too. In 1996, I did spend my first wedding anniversary at a nice place in Orleans, but there weren't any Cuddles and Bubbles there. We were back there for our second anniversary, also, but it wasn't very happy as we knew what would be happening in a matter of months. And Patty, that campground in New Brunswick, is that long name Native American in origin? And Richard, hope it wasn't too bad at work today. Hi Lori and others who've visited recently. I've got to present a treasurer's report with a growing deficit to the church Council tomorrow night. Money is a little slow during the summer weeks. Gee, I haven't been disconnected here yet. I don't want to push my luck! Bye for now.

I haven't heard from Jerry either here or in my mail. Frankly I'm a litttle concerned. Jerry are you out there???????

I'm not happy to be back at work, Monday morning, yeeeeeesh! Where is Jerry, has he been on vacation?

Hi Jane wonderful to see you here in blogger! I've been a terrible correspondent as you know very well. How are you and the kids?

I am happy reading what makes you all happy. Good to see your name again, Jane! Where are the rest of you? Come on, we want to hear from all of you.

I am happy when I am with one or both of my kids. And it doesn't matter what we do. God blessed me with 2 wonderful children! I am happy when I remember the beautiful fall foliage in Vermont. I am happy when reading about/or from one of my classmates. I am happy John Laplante made it through his 1st anniversary and that his health is good. And I'm always happy when I'm reading BLOGGER!!!

This is good - let's not stop now

I'm happy when I wake up every morning and listen to the birds that woke me up. I'm happy just to be happy and happy when I watch happy Gilmore play golf. I'm also happy that we had one heck of a good time at our 30th reunion.

Okay, Richard, I'll give it a try. I'm happy when I hear from old friends. I'm happy when I'm having fun talking or laughing with family or friends. I'm happy when I'm outside--sitting on the grass, sitting by the beach, walking somewhere where there are trees at least, not just donut shops, dry cleaners, pizza places, etc. I'm happy when I'm writing or reading a good book.

Hi Everybody, Yes, Pat I got those same e-mails from Brad, when there were 6 of them I realized what had happened, I hope his computer isn't wrecked.
Okay Richard I'll play. I'm happy when someone gives me a hug just because they are glad to see me (even though it's only been 10 mins.). When my 14 year old asks for my help/advise, or when she says I'm glad you're here/my mom.

"I am happy when my 19 year old son calls me mommy instead of mom, when my 21 year old son just "shows up at home", when I look at the flowers in my garden, when Dave and I fit a nice long walk into our day.


Nice idea, Richard.......

You know, I think it has been pretty normal for people from our class to drop into the blog, said hi and then disappear. My regret with this is that I really like people, I like my old classmates, I love hearing simple words from them (you). Exact meanings are a little hard to get and give, but I really have gotten a lot from what everyone else has posted. It has been great for me to hear from you all and I am sorry that it is cooling off.

Pat got onto the fact pretty early that I am a little twisted. This capacity for awareness may be important to surviving in Preque Isle, I don't know. However, I don't think that any one person's weaknesses, like my own, are where it falls apart. It seems like the more normal your message, the more easy it is to post and say hi, but maybe people feel like simple, normal stuff is ... well too simple.

You all know I like games, so here's one that I hope many will play. Complete this sentence, "I am happy when . . . " The logic behind the game is for others to remember you and what matters to you. I'll go first.

"I am happy when I hear new music that is cool, when my kids sit close and talk to me, when Gerda smiles at me." Is it too simple? I hope you don't think so. I hope you will play.

Hi folks, been away in New Brunswick for a few days trying out our new truck and travel trailer. Suddenly instead of a soccer mom with a 7 passenger van I am a trucker babe! Kouchibouguack Campground (say that three times fast) is beautiful - the ocean was great - not too cold for swimming. We're heading back to New Hampshire for a couple days labor Day weekend. Will be camping at Calumet on Lake Ossipee. It's our favorite place to go. If you're in the neighborhood stop by, we're on site 50.

Did anybody but me get mail with a virus attached from Brad Coyle? I got 6 pieces last week. Norton Anti-virus picked upthe problem and I deleted the messges. Brad said he wasn't sending anything. Apparently it was something sent to him that went through his address book.

Hope everyone is well out there. I have been really bad about keeping up with my personal mail. I owe Karen and Jane mail from way back. Now that school is starting up again and committees in church are up and running for the new season I'll be much more organized. I get much more done when I don't have the time.........

Hi, John. And thanks, Richard. And to all the others who were concerned about my safety in Israel--thank you. It's nice to know you care!

Hi Lori, welcome home!!! We missed you and, as you know, we were all concerned for your safety. And, maybe just a little concerned that you were having more fun than us.

It's less of leap, but I just returned from Montreal. We found a great apartment on the port in Old Montreal where we spent the weekend. It reminded me of living in Greenwich Village where it was always completely nuts with people dining and partying at night until???? and then complete quiet in the streets the next morning.

The only problem was it took 1-1/2 hours at the border. I think we will avoid Sunday afternoon there next time. Be good, have fun everyone!

Hey Lori,,,,

I will say hi. I don't mind. Where do we have the next party???????? Maybe at my house. lol.........

It's me again. Where is everybody? Did I scare you all away?!!!!!

Hey, it worked! Thanks, Brian. You probably did something or other to make it work. Patti told me to keep trying. That was the right advice. I've been enjoying reading about the reunion. I'm still waiting to see pictures, though. Are you posting them, Brian?

Hi everyone. I'm giving this another chance. I haven't been able to get into the blogsite since I got back from my trip. Just wanted to say hello. I'm glad to see you're all still here!

Hey Mike, First time I've heard you in here. Hey Thanks for the congrads.
The furthest we made it was to Home Depot to get some stuff for the new bathroom I am building. Holy Christ what a project. It is a totally different room then from the existing one and wow I have my hands full with all the plumbing. But hey thats how I learn, just dive in and hope you don't break your neck. Just a little pun there. Seeing how diving was almost my death bed. Anyway Thanks to all who thought of me and I will say that its been good to see and chat with you all again. Hey who knows maybe I will just find a place and we can have a little get together again, like maybe next year or so. Anyway gotta run. I am feeling like a muffler. You know a little exhausted. (heeee heeeeee) See ya........

Hey John congratulations to you and your lovely bride!!

I haven't been a bit worried about the CD. Besides my memories of the event are still very clear. It's a sign of my youth and vigor that I still remember what happened a couple of month ago. What a relief. Of course I don't remember what happened this morning, but ...........

Hey John, Really great!!!! Congratulations, I hope you both keep bringing out the best in each other. How about a little Gershwin for the occasion:

The more I read the papers,
The less I comprehend
The world and all its capers
And how it all will end.
Nothing seems to be lasting,
But that isn't our affair;
We've got something permanent -
I mean, in the way we care.

It's very clear
Our love is here to stay
Not for a year, but ever and a day

The radio
And the telephone
And the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies and in time may go

But oh my dear
Our love is here to stay
Together we're going a long long way

In time the Rockies may crumble
Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay
But - our love is here to stay

OK?!?!

Oh yea Jerry forgot to mention that I will send you a CD also.

Hey Jerry and all. Thanks Very Much for the care. Yes we are still together and I finally made it a year.
I have this whole week off just to obsorb what has happened. I will keep in touch and don't worry Pat now
I have time this week to get your CD in the mail. I will chat with you all later. Thanks again Jerry.

I'll come in and get out very quickly before the lights start dimming. It must be because everyone in Bloggerland is running their air conditioning today. I just wanted to wish John and Peggy Laplante a wonderful day tomorrow as they celebrate their first anniversary of marriage. Congratulations!!!

Hi everyone, Lori is unable to post so asked me to say to everyone "hello" and she will try to write when the posting is working again. Her trip was exhausting though very rewarding. Her family are all well.

Awesome!!! The lights are getting dim, better post now . . . .

I was here before and wrote quite a bit, but I got disconnected, then my PC locked up and I had to reboot and lost the message. I'll just mention one important point while I'm still connected, then publish. Monday the 12th is John Laplante's first wedding anniversary with Peggy. You are still together, aren't you, John? So maybe we can flood them with good wishes as the day approaches.

That is good news Pat, thanks for the update.

I have the best of news!! Lori wrote to me this afternoon. She arrived home safely on the 4th as planned. She is exhausted from jet - lag and will write soon with details of her trip!!

I had a copy of her itinerary and she was going to be moving round Israel quite a bit. In fact every town she had listed was one of the places the news told of another attack in. she said she was sure she wouldn't be e-mailing while she was gone but would get in touch right away when she returned on the 4th. No word yet but I'm sure she's catching up with family.

Lori was going to Italy and then Israel and she was to return on the 4th of August. I have been thinking of her too, when I hear the news reports.

I did not think Lori was going to Israel on this trip, but rather to Italy to be with her family vacationing there. Worrying is easy to understand, but there are so many wonderful possibilities out there. Everyone has to make their own choice. I can tell you that I would go to Italy in a heartbeat and travelling in general makes a lot of sense to me. I am amazed by things that are 1000s of years old or 1000s of miles away. It makes me happy and I don't even know why. A nice bottle of Tuscan wine would be one good reason, though.

Frankly, I'm waiting to hear that Lori survived the trip at all. I've been terribly worried about her. I wrote to Avi checking upon her but the mail came back undeliverable. She was very determined to go to Isreal but the times are frightening over there.

I don't think Mike is finding the time, yet. Hi Mike. I think Lori must be back from her trip by now. It would be great to hear about the best meal, the best view, the best ??? whatever. I hope it was fun.

Hi Everyone, Just wanted to let you know Colleen and I made it home safe and sound. The trip went well, we worked hard, played hard, and ate a lot!!!!!! All the youth were offered jobs, if they are old enough, if not then when they are, and hope they come back next year, and if the church decides not to go there next year call and they will help get them up there.
Our youth loved it because they were counted on and trusted with the campers. Last year was a little too hectic, and the campers were more severe than this year, but they really got to prove themselves this year. I worked in the kitchen last year and had almost no contact with the campers, so this year I got to be with the campers this year, great kids!!!! Really tugs at your heart strings to know you are making a difference in their lives, but the truth is they make a bigger difference in ours. That's all for now.

Hi Mike, Welcome to blogger. How's everyone in SPFLD ?

Hi Richard,

Fox Brothers were o.k. I think it was a little too canned for my taste. they did a lot of joking between songs and it didn't come over as very spontaneous even though the obligatory "potato" stuff was thrown in. the music was pretty good though. The crowd really got into it when they closed with some upbeat Christian and Patriotic pieces. the fireworks afterwards were terrific! so was the fried bread dough with powdered sugar. Yumm.

I told myself I'd lose 20 lbs. by the time school started and that's probably too lofty a goal. (we go back the 26th of Aug.) As it is, all my clothes fit better and I'm wearing things I haven't warn in several summers. I'm sure glad I didn't clean out my closets!! I'm pretty happy with the way things have gone. Certainly I feel better and healthier. Congrats to you on your weight loss also. It's a tough thing to do. I was such a skinny ****** in school, thought I'd never have to worry about weight!

Patty, How were The Fox Brothers? I looked at their website. They don't look like Ozzie, but they look like they are a good band. Congrats on your weight loss! I have lost a little as well.

Tonight is The Fox Brothers at the Northern Maine Fair with Fireworks to follow. Except for the rain it should be a great evening. I can already taste the fried bread dough. We like to go early in the week to the fair while the fat is fresh but didn't make it so we'll take our chances tonight!

In between rain storms I've been working in my gardens, playing a little croquet and refinishing furniture. I've even lost 12 pounds! For me, it's ben a very good summer.

Got a note from Eileen Hongisto yesterday. She said she missed the reunion because she was having back surgery. She'd love to see photos. I have none so if someone could post a few or send something to Eileen it would be great. Thanks.

Jerry, What do you like better- watching the race or watching the people watching the race? This weekend was party time here. I went to a friend's birthday party Friday, an annual garlic party at Arnold's (a Ben & Jerry's taste developer) house Saturday (do you know the difference between Italian, French and Bulgarian garlic?), and then last night with the same 4 couples that we have dinner with about every 6 weeks (for the last 17 years) for Mexican seafood at our house (first time I had a seafood taco- yum!). Be good & have fun to all! Today is going to be a long one. People are losing their jobs where I work and, like they say, "You never know when your going to go!"

In answer to Richard's question of the 19th (maybe it was rhetorical), I didn't wear my one-piece racing suit for the New England 300 at the speedway in Loudon. Instead I wore a black (hot) t-shirt for the Kellogg's Corn Flakes car #5 and driver Terry Labonte with shorts and SPF45 Coppertone sunblock lotion. I periodically took a swig of the cold water in my cooler and ate some more of those famous carrot sticks and some cherry tomatoes. Yum! Oh, and also wore a NHIS hat to protect my fragile hairline from the sun. I ended up selling my last ticket at about 11:30 just outside the fence of the speedway to a guy who told me he was working in New Jersey and this was his first visit to this track. Not sure if I'm going in September, the 15th, or not, so my tickets might be available for that one. I was there along with everyone else the day after Thanksgiving which was the makeup date following the postponement from the Sunday after September 11 last year. Yeah, I said hi to a couple people at reunion and I was hoping to run into them again for more conversation than that, but then the evening was over and those people had left. That's why we have an e-mail address listing to at least catch up on a few things, right? I've got to get some fresh native sweet corn which is about my most favorite vegetable. So what else do you want to talk about?

Yup Pat I know what you mean. It was a good time to see everyone. I felt the sameway. There was so many of them there that I wanted to talk too but there just wasn't even time for everyone. Well you know what that means.
Sounds like we need another one before the 5 years. I may do it again, who knows.

Hi Evertbody, Even though I don't "talk" often I just wanted to let everyone know I will be leaving tomorrow evening for Colorado. Colleen and I wil be gone until next Sunday afternoon, we are really looking foward to it!!!!!! See ya'll when I get back.

Hi everyone, today I watched a video by Terry Cochran called "Life Happened". The storyline is her saying she ran into this one and that one from her high school class and how they hadn't followed their dreams because "Life Happened". She was bothered by this until she got to her reunionand realized that everyone had turned out alright. They just followed different dreams. I thought it was nice. Reminded me a lot of our reunion. I think we all turned out alright too. I wish I had more time to talk to some of the folks like Andy Warren who were there. I remember one minute I was talking with him and then I wasn't. I was such a gad about that night that I probably wandered from conversation to conversation without finishing anything!! It was wonderful to see so many people.

Hi John, I got pictures! Thanks. Brian's high school picture made my wife laugh till she cried and now my older son is thinking about growing an Afro. This is progress.

Sorry for the hold up on pictures. I have been very busy. I have brian's and richard's cd in the package. I just need to find the time this week to get them in the mail. The rest of you will get yours soon. I am trying to finish the video that I put together for this. I thought you would all enjoy to see. Hang tight, I haven't forgotten anybody. It's just time consuming on the video side. If I don't finish it soon I will just mail out the CD's to you all without it. But I think it will be worth the wait. Till then..... CHOW...... Don't worry I am still here.

Hi Jerry, When my kids were much younger and we were living in VT, we went to Park Safari, just over the CA border. Thankfully we were in my dad's car. You drive through the park with your windows down and feed the girafees and others as you drive through. I was slimed by a buffalo. It was green, wet, and gross. I loved it!! The monkees have all been moved to their own area where one walks around on bridges to see them. They were doing too much damage to the cars. Janice and Butch will remember a trip through where they had a lot of scratches to their new car.

Dave and I went to Florida's Busch Gardens some years back. That's a beautiful park. We'll be in Williamsburg, VA in early Oct. There is a Busch Gardens there also.

How's your worm research going? Have you check it out at Symantec.com? That's a great place to read up on the actual and the hoax problems with the internet. I always check there before I forward any of those e-mails I get telling me about the latest destructive virus going around.

Howdy, Jerry. I haven't been to Canobie, but I have been to Splash Water Kingdom at Lake George. It is surprising how many crazy ways there are to end up getting really wet. I had a good time. Also, I have always heard that you should only go to a Wild Animal Park in someone else's car or a rental that has insurance and avoid having the monkeys peel the trim off of your car. This has been enough to keep me away, but I have gone on the monorail at the Bronx Zoo which traverses a wide open grassland with tigers and lions roaming free on all sides. Oooo baby, it's a wild world! Hey, have fun at Loudon! Do you wear your one piece race suit for these occasions?

Howdy.

Hi everyone..........note to Brian, the CDs are in the mail...........I have some of my house, etc. so you can cut them from the ones you post. I'm sure people would be more interested in the reunion pictures. I have a gret one of you and your wife, Peter. It was great meeting her and seeing you as well after all these years. I really liked meeting the "significant others" of all the classmates. I'm sure they felt a little out there, but some were interested in what their spouses did in high school. Take care, and have a nice week.

Welcome, Peter! Glad you stopped by in here. Back safe in Iowa? Just got a notice about a new medium risk worm (virus). Guess I'll have to get another update. And I'm glad to learn something about the potato harvest and how it's done. I'll be going to this Sunday's Winston Cup stock car race at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon (just north of Concord), and one of my tickets is available. If anyone knows of an interested party who could use the ticket and we can make connections, please let me know. I'm just getting the word out. Went to 100-year-old Canobie Lake Park on Saturday with a small group of the church youth. It's still a fun place for lots of people. Did any of you go there as kids? How about Benson's Wild Animal Park which doesn't exist anymore?

I have a lot of friends here who worked the harvest as teenagers. They tell of back breaking work that was the ony way to buy school clothes for the new year. Trucks used to drive around the neighborhoods and pick up the kids early in the morning and drop them back off at the end of the day. You got payed by the barrel-full.

Pat, I am glad that I asked and am very interested by the story. It is pretty unusual for a community to connect and support each other. I think so much is exchanged through shared work- most of it positive. Thanks!

Hi Richard, Yup it's true. I live in the historic times of the Potato Harvest. When Presque Isle High goes back into session mid Aug. they will only be in for about a month or so. Then there will be a month off for the harvest. Studies have shown over the last several years that very few students actually participate in the harvest but the "powers that be" insist that without these students they (farmers) would be unable to accomplish their harvest. Whatever. I imagine your friend was a hand picker. I've done that with my middle school students. jeez that is hard work and dirty. Now most of the farms are automated and one must be old enough to work on a harvester. A very large and dangerous piece of equipment. Our son Colin worked on a harvester one year and learned what real work is all about. He bought himself a nice Dell with the money and swore he'd never go back again. some town close everything down but we just close the high school. All the other schools open the 27th of August and go right on through til spring. Aren't you glad you asked? That's probably more information than you were looking for!

Hi Peter welcome to Blogger!!!! Nice to see my invitations are working~~~~~~~~~~

Hey Peter! I went to Niagara Falls but didn't take the Maid of the Mist boat. I really wish that I did, though! I am pretty impressed by miracles of nature and it kind of blew me away to see water that spans 4000 feet, dropping 175 (?) feet straight down. It's kind of like a little Grand Canyon that moves (a lot).
Hi Pat, My neighbor lived in Maine potato country when he was in high school and he said that they went to school for one month starting in August and then the schools closed for a month while potatos are harvested. Does that still happen? My neighbor says that it was hard work and that he wasn't that much help.

Hi everyone I'm new to this site. Will try to check in weekly but will be weakly most likely. My wife Barb,son Zack, and I stopped at Niagera Falls on the way home to Iowa. We rode the Maid of the Mist boat ;got wet ,but otherwise had a safe and uneventful trip home.

Hi everybody, Dave and I are back from our vacation trip to NH. Boy was it hot! 100 degrees and the same for humidity, but the lake was clean and heavenly! so I really didn't mind. Tough going in and out of our pop-up though. Til the sun went down we couldn't do much about the temperature in there.

Had an interesting time at Dave's reunion the Sat. after ours. I had the opportunity to see how it felt to be on the "spouse side" of a gathering. Only knew one other person there. He was drunk and obnoxious pretty early on so that wasn't too pleasant. Oh well.

I don't see any of our newly invited members here in the blog site but I can see from the team list that some folks have at least peeked in. Speak up out there !

John I'd like a copy of the CD if you can let me know about the cost I'll drop it in the mail. I'd like to see the pictures on the film in Kelly's camera. She asked me to use her camera during the parade and take LOTS of pictures. Hope she sends copies to someone who sends them to Brian so they can be posted here. She doesn't have e-mail.

Karen, since you'll be in Bar Harbor anyway, why not drive another 6 hours north and visit me here in Presque Isle? The pototoes are in bloom and the annual Potato Blossom Festival starts next week. You haven't lived until you see mashed potato wrestling!

Nancy I will stop by and drop one off for you.

Hi John....I would like copy of the cd. How do I get one? Bob is going to send Brian the pics he took at the parade and dance so that they can be posted. Hi everyone!!!!

Hi Everyone! Well, now it is my turn to go to VT. I am leaving tomorrow to fly into Burlington and then go to my sister Marleen's in Middlebury. My sister Diann, from Needham, MA will be there too and we will all get into some trouble together for the next 4 days. My brother Bryan lives in Northampton, MA and we'll see him also. Rich and the kids will drive to Perkinsville from Grand Rapids on the weekend and we will have family reunions with both families............can't wait! Planning to see Butch and Janice Stearns too. The following week we will head to Bar Harbor, ME to Rich's family's camp, We love everything about heading to New England, except the bugs! My mom said that they could see the smoke from the Canadian fires last weekend, hope it is gone by the time we get there. Supposedly Michigan had it too, but I didn't notice. Hope everyone is having a great summer. Cheers! (Champagne and Chambord of course!) Karen Millay

Yeah, John, I would like a cd of the pics - or at least to see them on the net. Do you need some money - for postage/cd? If so, let me know. You can call me at 802-886-1001 after 5:00 or email me at jlachapelle@vtlegalaid.org - or my address is 115 Route 106, N. Springfield, VT 05150. You did a great job and we really all enjoyed your rendition of It's a Wonderful World. So, you had a vacation, huh? Hope it was swell. Bye for now.

I had such a nice 4th. Gerda, our boys, and I went to a party with guitars, frisbee, and salmon on the grill. It was so much fun to sing old Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Bonnie Raitt etc. The hosting couple have four wonderful boys and there were many teens there, all well behaved. Must be good parenting! We drove home through 3 or 4 little towns that were shooting off fireworks. Really cool!
Be good, have fun!
-Richard

Hope everyone had a great 4th and nice relaxing weekend...........take care,

Hey everyone.

Brian the CD is made and I will be sending you one. Anybody else that wants one should let me know. It has all the pictures of everything from start to finish.
Happy 4th of July to everyone.

I sent an email to John Lewis to tell him we missed him at the reunion, Roger Belville told me he wasn't there because of business reasons. Anyway, John just emailed me and asked me to tell eneryone he really missed being there.

HAPPY JULY 4TH EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!

Hi John, I think IM is a great idea. . . but I am usually not on line when I am at home (like now) and IM at work would not work for me (Brian is already saying to himself that the answer is obvious to him. Quit the job!). I think there are others that would love to connect thru Instant Messenger when they are on line. I hope that you get some emails and are able to set it up!
All for now,
-Richard

Hey has anybody thought about using Instant messenger so that we can chat with each other when online.
Then we would know if or when they are online and would like to chat. They don't have to chat everytime they log in.
Ok you all know my email address and I am on instant messenger so it was just a thought.

Hi Everybody, I talked to Jane (Haseltine) Kinney last night for two hours, it the first time we have been able to catch each other since we found we are so close to each other. I told her about the reunion and how wonderful it was, she was sorry she couldn't make it and really sorry she missed your song John, I told her she had missed a real treat. It was so wonderful to see everyone again, and I agree with Brian, there wasn't enough time, and along with email there is IM's too assuming you have the same service, that's a good way to "chat". Well, just wanted to add my two cents worth. I had a great time and thanks again to all who had a hand in it. It really was a wonderful weekend.

Brian, I am getting mine developed, and will try and get them to you as soon as I can. I know Lori and Karen are anxious about seeing everyone that we have been talking about as well as all that were there. Sort of builds up the interest, eh? I think you said the right thing, Brian. Our class was the greatest and it looks like we have more talent than we thought 30 years ago.........I really have to be honest and say that I think we do have the best class, lets keep in touch, though. I won't let another 30 years go by, for sure.........we'll be almost 80, then. WOW.........

Ok Ok Ok ...... I am on vacation right now but I will post the pictures for everyone. Brian thanks for the compliment and the rest of you all. It was a wonderful world that night.
Hey hang tight I will get the pics out and post some more info on what is or might be up our sleeve. Going to Hampton Beach and soak up the salt.
Hey talk to you all in a bit. Hey Brian maybe I will just send you a cd of all the pics so that you can enjoy all of them. I will get that to you in a short.
I will just mail it to you . Bye for now.

Wow. That was fun! I had a great time from morning to night. Thanks to everyone for being the marvelous people you are! It was great to catch up, to hear about your lives and families. There wasn't nearly enough time for all the questions I would have liked to ask, but that's why we have email, right?

Wasn't John LaPlante amazing? What a guy! One of the brightest highlights of the evening was when John sang Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World". Eveyone around me was positively stunned and delighted.

And thanks to Nancy Cordle for buying me my first drink of the evening, and getting the party off to rockin' start.

Linda LaBonte kept me spellbound with tales of horror and happiness, not to mention the "Bump": )

I was sorry that Ron and Debbie couldn't be there, after all the work they did to get this party off the ground. We are all most grateful for what you've done, thank you.

I started to list names of all the people I enjoyed talking to, but that was going to be a list of everyone there, so I'll just say "Thanks, everyone, you are the greatest class of '72 in the world!"

So send me some photos willya? If you can't do it by email, my street address is in my profile (click the "Team" button in the Edit your Blog section), I will send the photos right back after scanning them.